On Fire!

Max rolling around in the snow.
"Never been so hot, never been so hot! I am on FIRE!"

It was snowing (ever so slightly) off & on most of Saturday. This led Max, Zorro and I to skijor up into the backcountry Sunday morning - hoping the higher elevations got some better snow...

It was 42 degrees when we left the trailhead around 9am - mostly cloudy with a little sun breaking through occasionally. Even though we were ascending up over 1,000 feet, the day was growing so the temps remained over 40 our entire route.

40+ degrees and we are skijoring?!?!! Whose bright idea was this??? We think this is the hottest temperature EVER experienced by 2 Siberian Huskies! Global Warming! What was that you said? "forward/faster"? Ok, we cannot resist, but you realize this is the hottest day ever! 

The previous paragraph was brought to you by Max & Zorro. They both have "Siberian Summer Blockout Disorder" and refuse to believe they have every exercised when over 40 degrees - until today! Despite the record heat (according to them) we did an 8.5 mile skijoring tour. Given the temperatures, the trails were slushy & mushy in many areas - we maintained an impressive 6 MPH moving average through this heat wave and wet/sticky skiing terrain...

The Route: Indiana Creek winter trailhead; up Indiana Creek until connecting with Boreas Pass Rd; down Boreas Pass Rd to the Boreas winter trailhead. Nearing the Boreas trailhead, there are two sections of trail with high "canyon walls" on both sides - meaning not much snow collects on these 2 patches. With the recent temperatures and not much new snow, both of these sections were down to dirt. I had to remove my skis and walk across these two areas. The life of "spring skiing" conditions...

Vital Stats: 8.5 miles; 1h 45m total time; 1h 25m moving time; 6 MPH moving average (in slushy/sticky conditions!); 16 MPH top speed; 1,100 feet of elevation gain (and loss).

Cruising up the lower sections of Indiana Creek.
Although there are "no tracks", the trail is easy to see ascending up through the trees.

On Boreas Pass Rd taking a short break.
A look back at the path we skijored up & out of Indiana Creek.

Frisky Zorro - preparing to pounce on Max.
He may look innocent in this shot; but he's got mischief all over his face
and "prepare to pounce" in back legs ;-)

Zorro pounce successful. Max saying, "try that again and I'll FLATTEN you kid!"

Cruising past Nancy as we sprint towards the Boreas winter trailhead.
Notice the airborne, flying feet on the siberians!

Back home and recovering from sprinting 8.5 miles through slushy/sticky snow in the
hottest temperature ever seen by a Siberian Husky...